Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday said the US attacked Iran because it “tried to play’’ President Trump — and warned if it attempts to retaliate, it will be “the worst mistake they ever made.’’
“That was an Iranian choice. We didn’t make that choice,” Rubio told Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.”
Iran “tried to play” Trump similar to how “they’ve played every American president for the last 35 years,” Rubio said. “They did by playing games with Donald Trump. They made a huge mistake.
“If they retaliate, it will be the worst mistake they’ve ever made,” he said. “Look, we can fly in and out of Iran at will. We went in last night. The president sent our military forces from halfway across the world, went in, conducted this operation, left and not a shot was fired against us.”
Rubio noted that Trump wrote to Iran about two months ago giving Tehran 60 days to negotiate over its nuclear program.
“They use diplomacy to hide behind and obfuscate and think they can buy themselves time. They think they’re cute, they’re not cute, and they’re not going to get away with this stuff, not under President Trump,” Rubio said.
Iran has seethed at the attack on its nuclear sites — dubbed “Operation Midnight Hammer” by the US — and vowed that America “shall be held fully accountable,” without elaborating on specifics.
Some analysts have speculated that Iran could fire off attacks against US bases or other military assets in the region. In 2020, Iran attacked the Al-Asad Airbase in Iraq, where the US had troops stationed, in response to the killing of notorious Quds Force leader Qasem Soleimani.
But the Israelis have significantly degraded Iran’s offensive and defensive capabilities since launching Operation Rising Lion against its enemy a little more than a week ago to take out its nuclear program.
“They are completely vulnerable, completely vulnerable,” Rubio said of Iran. “They don’t control their own airspace, they can’t protect their own airspace.
“They can’t even protect their own leaders,” he said. “So I think it would be a big mistake if they did anything against us. But look, they’ll have to make that decision.”
One potential reprisal that many experts fear is that Iran could attempt to close the Straits of Hormuz, where an estimated 20% to 25% of the world’s consumed oil flows.
“I encourage the Chinese government in Beijing to call them about that because they heavily depend on the Straits of Hormuz for their oil,” Rubio said. “If [Iranian officials try to close the waterway], it will be another terrible mistake. It’s economic suicide for them if they do it.”
The secretary of state stressed that “this is not a war against Iran” and denied the US is seeking regime change with its military campaign against the theocracy.
“That’s certainly not the goal of what we’re working on here, the goal, stated very clearly in a letter the president sent the Supreme Leader [Ayatollah Ali Khamenei],” the secretary of state said.
Rubio also tore into Iran’s troubled history, assessing that it’s “the sole source of instability in the entire Middle East, and the world’s been paying a price for this for 40-something years.
“Imagine those people having a nuclear weapon, just one, just one nuclear weapon or even the capability to being on the threshold of having a nuclear weapon,” he warned.
While several neighboring countries in the Middle East have condemned the strikes, Rubio claimed that “privately, they all agree with us that this needed to be done.”
He also suggested that European powers should consider slapping sanctions on Tehran.
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